The Other Side of Sadness III
by JonoGwood
Summary: Sadness is pregnant, and Fear and the other emotions are along for the ride.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Welcome everyone to the third story in the Other Side of Sadness series. Everyone who has read the first two, and everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed them: thank you.  
Let's begin!**

It had been a day since Fear and Sadness had received news that Sadness was pregnant. They both agreed that it was scary and new, but they were also excited to begin this new stage of their lives.  
It was Sadness who suggested that Fear hold a general meeting to tell the others about the news.

"I've called a meeting here tonight because of some exciting news," Fear began. "As you might know, Sadness was sick yesterday. Well, we finally have a reason for that." He looked to the right of him.

"Sadness… is pregnant."

The other emotions were silent for a few seconds. Then the congratulatory cacophony was unleashed.

"I'm so excited! A little emotion running around Headquarters!" squealed Joy.

"Congratulations, guys," smiled Anger. "I think you'll be great parents."

"Congratulations!" Disgust said. "Just don't let it drool near me, okay? I have a big problem with that."

Fear looked at Sadness and smiled. "Well, that went well, didn't it?"

"I was surprised, actually," she smiled. "I thought Disgust was going to hyperventilate when you said the word 'pregnant'."

"I didn't faint this time either," laughed Fear. "Now, do you want me to help you to our bedroom?"

"Fear, it's fine," Sadness reassured. "It's only the first month. You know I'll call if I need any help. But thanks, sweetie." She kissed Fear on the cheek. "T-thanks," Fear said, momentarily stunned.

In almost no time at all, Sadness was attended to as if she were a sick patient. Of course she wasn't, really, but she had to admit to she enjoyed all the attention. It was just that she was attended to so often! Sometimes she'd have to admit that she was fine, and didn't really need the help. Even so, she knew that the others were genuinely caring about the wellbeing of her and the baby.

Joy was constantly asking Fear for status reports. "So, how is she today? Is she good? Is baby well? How's her belly?"

Fear kept feeling a little overwhelmed with this interrogation, so his only response, invariably, was: "Fine. S-she's fine."

"Oh, c'mon, Fear, that's all you can say?" Joy teased.

"I'm not a doctor, Joy," Fear replied. "I mean, she's still suffering a little from morning sickness, but the doctor's fairly confident that both she and the baby are healthy."

"That's good! Well, just hang on to that," Joy smiled as she hugged him. "I'm so excited!"

Fear watched over Sadness like a hawk. The instant she felt queasy, he'd rush for a bucket. If she felt like crying, he'd hug her. "It's alright," he soothed. "It's okay, honey."

"I just want the baby to be okay!" she sobbed.

"Darling, you'll be absolutely fine," Fear continued.

And, after a while, Sadness would be calmed down.

It was a long journey ahead of them, but they were ready to face it with their friends in tow.


	2. Cravings and Other Craziness (2nd Month)

The second month of Sadness's pregnancy was characterised by one main regular occurance: sudden food cravings. It could be anything: chocolate, ice cream, tuna. It didn't really matter: almost any food could become a craving. This resulted in many trips to Food Island for grocery shopping. Fear would often have to go himself, as he was fearful that the transportation system might make Sadness nauseous. Fortunately, Fear didn't have to pay that much due to the store's discounting system based on the quantity of the purchases.

On one particular morning, Fear woke being the sole occupant of the bed he usually shared with Sadness. _Where is she?_ he thought frantically. _Oh, I hope the aliens haven't got her! What if E.T has held her hostage? Oh, I can just imagine the smirk on his evil wrinkled face._

Some time ago Riley had watched E.T at a sleepover and Fear had developed a phobia of aliens, especially the one shown in the film. Despite E.T being relatively harmless, Fear thought that it would snatch him while he was sleeping and take him in a spaceship for experiments.

In an act of desparation, Fear leapt off the bed and searched for his wife. "Where are you, honey? Oh, don't tell me you've been kidnapped by aliens! Please... no..."

"I'm here," called a familiar voice.

Fear ran to the source of the voice. He found Sadness eating a bowl of ice cream. At 8 o'clock in the morning.

"A-are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "This ice cream is pretty good."

Fear breathed a hugh sigh of relief, grabbed a bowl and dug in with her.

"Hey, Fear, where are the chocolates?" asked Joy innocently.

Joy was working the console this particular night, and she needed chocolate to keep her going.

"I thought they were in the cupboard," he muttered.

"Well, I checked them, and they're not there." She held her hands on her hips.

"Sadness..." Fear realised.

"Oh!" exclaimed Joy. "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot! Sorry. I guess I can eat some... healthier foods. Thanks!"

She skipped away, leaving Fear to wonder how Sadness could have eaten all of the chocolates so quickly.

"A pregnant woman... who would've thought?" he mumbled as he went to bed.


	3. Nightmares (3rd Month)

**AN: This chapter will be slightly darker in tone than the others, but I promise it won't be for long. It's an exploration of the fears Sadness may have about having her baby. Enjoy.  
**

 _A white room. Doctors and nurses surrounded a bed where Sadness was lying._

 _"Vitals good?" asked one behind a surgical mask._

 _"Mother fine, baby critical," replied another._

 _Sadness's eyes widened. "Is my baby alright?"_

 _"Ma'am, let us do our work," the first doctor said without emotion._

 _Sadness looked at Fear, who was freaking out._

 _"Fear... what are they doing?"_

 _"I-I don't know. I think they're talking about the baby." And for a few seconds, silence._

 _"Ma'am, you're going to have to push now," said one doctor at last._

 _And push she did. Labor was long, hard and excruciating. Fear's encouragement was drowned out by her agonized screams._

 _The cries she expected from her baby never came._

 _"Ma'am... we're sorry, but..."_

Sadness woke up in a cold sweat. She realised where she was and began to calm down, albeit slowly. She was shaking violently, and reached over to Fear.

"Fear... I had a nightmare... Fear..."

A purple hand reached out and pulled her close to him.

"Sadness... I love you. No matter what happens, we're going to get through this together. I promise you that. We won't lose the baby. I love you."

Fear kept whispering this until Sadness began to drift off to sleep. She was still holding his hand.

"I love you, too," she mumbled as she went into the land of dreams yet again.

* * *

At the monthly checkup, Sadness informed the doctor about her recurring nightmares, and how it deeply upset her. She cried as she recounted them. Fear squeezed her hand tight.

"Well," the doctor said at last, "I think what you're experiencing is not uncommon. It's distressing, but on the other hand it shows you want the best for your unborn child. You know that you're supported, don't you?"

"Yes, but... I don't want to have the dreams again," she sniffed.

"Well, the best way to avoid that is to rationalise things. Your baby is healthy, as the tests have been showing again and again. Your support base is quite large. And your husband loves you no matter what. So you really have nothing to worry about. Your baby's safe."

Thanking the doctor, they both went back to Headquarters, whereupon Sadness was showered with encouragement. Joy, in particular, gave the most words of encouragement.

So, things were looking up. And that was wonderful news indeed.


	4. The Ultrasound (4th Month)

**AN: Sorry, guys, for not updating in a while. Life's gotten in the way of writing, particularly school. School's going to get busy in a few weeks, so this may be my last chapter for a while. Once I find the time, I'll get back to the fic.  
Thanks everyone for reading so far! **

So far, Sadness was progressing well with the pregnancy, with no major hiccups. Of course, this didn't stop Fear from being petrified that there would be some problems to come. Although he knew deep down that Sadness and the baby were doing quite well, he was still concerned for his wife. For Fear, love came with the strong desire to protect his wife, no matter what.

Sometimes his desire for protection was seen as going a little too far, such as supervising Sadness's trips to the fridge. But she knew that he really did have her best interests at heart. When it came right down to it, Fear was acting in fierce, strong love. And that was certainly a good thing.

* * *

The time came for that wonderful event of pregnancy: the ultrasound. Fear and Sadness would be able to view their precious gifts for the very first time. Naturally, Headquarters was abuzz with all sorts of excitement. Joy was particularly excited.  
"Aw, it's gonna be so CUTE!" she exclaimed. "You're gonna fall in love with your baby all over again, I'm sure!"

"It'll be good," Fear replied. "I'm not sure what it'll look like, but if it doesn't have two heads I'll be glad!" He grinned at this.

"Well," Sadness said, "it's time to go to Medical Island."

"Right! Yes! Well, see you soon, guys!" called Fear as he walked over to the transportation tube. "I'll bring photos back, I promise!"

* * *

At Medical Island, the couple were quickly shown into a room at the medical clinic. The doctor who had announced Sadness's pregnancy was in charge of the ultrasound.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt at all," he explained as he rubbed some jelly on Sadness's belly. "This will help the ultrasound do its work." He looked at Fear as he said this, in an effort to reassure him.

After a few seconds of hovering the scanning device over Sadness, the television screen flickered to life, and to everyone's surprise showed not one, but two emotions!

"Well, I'll be!" exclaimed Fear.

"Twins..." remarked the doctor. "Two emotions. Two little ones to love. Isn't that wonderful?"

Fear leaned over Sadness and shared a celebratory kiss.

"I guess this'll mean we'll have to do double the work," Sadness said, smiling a little.

* * *

When news of Sadness having twins reached Headquarters, the others were overjoyed, as Fear expected.

"Oh! Twins! That's... THAT'S AMAZING!" squealed Joy. "Two little emotions! Two little emotions running around, poopin' their pants and having an awful lot of fun! Well done, guys!"

Anger was happy, too. "Twins, huh? Wonderful. Just don't let them make me angry. You know what I'm like when I'm angry."

Disgust was delighted, but expressed a few reservations: "If they soil their diapers, it won't be me who will do the job."

So, once again there was a chorus of celebration and a time of great joy. Sadness still had a lot of time to go before the twins made their grand entries into the world. Fear was more vigilant than ever. The others were speculating all about the little ones.

Certainly, life wasn't dull in Riley's mind. In fact, it was more exciting than ever.


	5. Glow (5th Month)

Sadness entered her fifth month of pregnancy, and along with it came something peculiar that all the other emotions noticed. She was glowing. Not glowing in the literal sense, but the pregnancy was causing her skin to look glowing in appearance.

It made Fear's love for her even stronger. His heart lifted whenever Sadness glowed.

"You look just like the sun, Sadness," he would say. "Just like the sun on a warm day."

Sadness would always return his remark with a hug. "And you," she would say, "are a sweetheart." Then she'd kiss him.

* * *

Sadness's glow, too, caused a more positive atmosphere in Headquarters. Whenever she entered the room, it was as if everyone's day was made that bit brighter. If anyone was having a bad day, she could come up to them and their mood would change almost instantly. Needless to say, Sadness was the centre of attention yet again.

Anger was feeling particularly, well, angry on one particular day. "Seriously?! The teacher marked Riley's essay a B? A STINKIN' B?! The amount of research she did was crazy, AND THE TEACHER MARKED HER DOWN?! **WHY?! DOES THE TEACHER NOT APPRECIATE RESEARCH?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! ARE YOU...** "

"Anger?" came the voice of Sadness. "A-are you okay?"

Anger's rage subsided a little. "J-just fuming at Riley's essay grade. It's injustice!"

"Yeah, it's sad, isn't it?" Sadness replied. "But maybe... maybe she needs to tell the teacher about it... I don't know."

Anger brightened somewhat. "Oh yeah. Great idea! Thanks, Sadness!" He walked to talk to Joy, while Sadness was wondering why his mood had changed suddenly.

* * *

Also during this time, Fear and Anger were hard at work building the nursery for the twins. Bit by bit, little by little, the two emotions worked tirelessly, often into the night. They made sure to do their work away from Sadness, as they knew she'd need all the sleep she could get.

Their work, while arduous, was for a good cause. They didn't need payment. Their payment would be the smile on Sadness's face when they would reveal it. In all her glowing glory.

Since Fear knew they were having twins, but still didn't know their genders, he opted for a unisex colour scheme: darkish yellows mixed with a hint of blue. Two cribs were made, closely spaced to each other. To be on the safe side, baby monitors were installed. Then, Fear and Anger built shelves for toys, books and essential items. Lastly, two nappy-changing areas were built, with both parents able to change at the same time.

At last, they finished everything. The two male emotions looked at each other and grinned.

"Sadness is gonna love this," Fear remarked.

* * *

Sadness was lead into a room with a blindfold on. Fear and Anger, grinning widely, were steering her into the new nursery.

When they got there, Fear slowly undid the blindfold and Sadness's eyes opened.

And she sobbed.

Fear sprang into action, comforting his wife. "I'm sorry... we thought you'd like it..."

"No," she sniffed, "it's beautiful! It's perfect! I love it. Thank you." She pecked Fear on the cheek. "Thanks, Anger," she said to Anger, hugging him.  
"N-no problem, Sadness," Anger said, blushing a little.

* * *

As the fifth month drew to a close, Fear and Sadness were both contemplating how far they'd come in a few short months. From being married to starting a family. Their dream was finally coming to fruition.

Fear, especially, was left awed by how far he'd come. Sadness went from his best friend to his wife, and soon the mother of his children. As he sat in thought, a tear ran down his cheek.

"I'm so lucky to have you," he said to Sadness.

"And _I_ am so lucky to have _you_ ," she replied, as they embraced together.


	6. The Post-Wedding Date (6th Month)

**AN: Two chapters today, as a gift to my readers. Spot the Disney reference in this chapter! Enjoy.  
**

The sixth month of Sadness's pregnancy was spent packing in advance for the hospital stay. After consulting numerous pregnancy books, Sadness decided that they were going to pack only the bare essentials and nothing else. The problem was, though, that Fear had a unique personal definition of what "bare essentials" meant. Time and time again, when they practiced packing items in suitcases, Fear packed just about everything they had - phone chargers, toothbrushes, shower curtains...

It took considerable talking from Sadness to convince Fear that the bare essentials also did not include any of those things. By the middle of the sixth month, Fear had more or less gotten the bare essentials down pat - a few toiletries, a phone just in case, a phone charger, plus a spare pillow if Fear had to stay the night in hospital.

They also found a way to put all of the items in small suitcases. This was done primarily to make sure that, if the twins were coming early, Fear could grab the suitcases and wheel them to hospital without much effort.

The suitcases were stored at the bottom of the cupboard and in such a way that they could be easily accessed.

Needless to say, they were ready for whatever was in store for them.

* * *

"Sadness... do you want to have dinner with just me tonight?"

Sadness was temporarily taken aback at Fear's question. Usually all the emotions ate at a communal dining room together. Then, her mind clicked. She knew what Fear was trying to say.

"You want to go... on a date?"

Fear nodded. Even though they were married, the thought occurred to him that maybe they ought to go out again. They had both been busy preparing for Sadness's eventual delivery. They managed to slip in a kiss or two whenever they could, but it seemed they hadn't had an opportunity to really talk. Communication, Fear realised, was the key to a successful relationship. And this was what brought on his question.

When he told this to Sadness, she wholeheartedly agreed. "Tonight at the Blue Bayou", she said.

* * *

The Blue Bayou, it turned out, was magnificent. It overlooked the waters of Friendship Island, with candles along the sides of the restaurant, illuminating husband and wife in an almost heavenly glow.

"Well, this is beautiful," Sadness remarked.

"Oh, darling, _you_ are beautiful," Fear replied.

Sadness blushed.

The waiter came to the couple's table. "Hello, sir and madam," began the waiter. "Our special tonight is chicken and mango salad."

"We'll have one to share, thank you," Fear said to the waiter. "Right away, sir," the waiter replied, leaving them.

"You know," Fear told Sadness, "I know you've been wondering about how this all is going to turn out. Believe me, I've been scared this whole time. But I'm also... you know, excited. Excited to hold our little ones. Excited to watch them grow. Excited to take this new journey with you. I love you, Sadness, and I can't wait to take this next adventure with you!"

Sadness nearly sobbed. "Fear, you don't know how much that means to me. I've been wondering, too. Wondering about the twins. Wondering about how they'll turn out. Wondering about what things we'll have to do. But I'm at peace. I really think, whatever happens, I'll get to have you on my side, cheering me on. And no matter how sad things are, I've got an anchor to support me. Fear... I love you. We'll make it, honey. We'll get through."

Soon after, the chicken and mango salad arrived, and they ate and talked for the next few hours.


	7. Names (7th Month)

**AN: Okay, I'd like to say a few things. Firstly, I've gotten 18 reviews so far. I'm amazed that I've gotten this far. The first fic I wrote only had 9. The sequel to that (Other Side of Sadness II) got 13, and now the third one has eclipsed the previous story. Thanks everyone!**

 **Responding to a few reviews:**

 **FrozenLuver12: I've never had any reader respond quite like that to my stories. It blows my mind that I can write stuff that makes people cry. Thanks for the review.**

 **Guest1021: Thanks for your suggestions on names. I'll consider them.**

 **GreatMountainTengu: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the trilogy.**

 **ErinMilne: Thanks again for a wonderful review. You got the Bayou Restaurant reference correct! It's in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland. I suppose I owed it a reference since I went to Disneyland last year and that ride was a highlight.**

 **Without further ado, here we go.**

* * *

The seventh month of Sadness's pregnancy arrived. Thankfully, hormones weren't as out of control as Fear had thought, although there were occasions where Sadness would sob for a period of time, followed swiftly by comforting and cuddles. The cravings were also not as intense as in previous times. It was fair to say that Sadness's twins were developing normally, and it would only be two months before they made their grand entrance into the world.

In preparation for their birth, and also to give it thought before the craziness of delivery, Fear and Sadness consulted baby name books to scout out potential names. Unlike Riley's parents' name books, these worked by identifying the emotions, and then listing possible offshoots of said emotions. Thankfully, Fear was able to work the books out, and within a few weeks they had come up with a list. The names they would ultimately choose would not be decided until the twins were born.

Now that Fear and Sadness had planned things well in advance, it was now a waiting game. Just to be safe, they had a nurse on call. That way, if Sadness was experiencing contractions suddenly, they had medical help on hand when they needed it most.

Joy, Anger and Disgust, meanwhile, were hard at work making a banner to affix to Fear and Sadness's room when they returned to Headquarters from the hospital. It was a colourful banner, with glittery letters reading "CONGRATULATIONS FEAR AND SADNESS ON THE BIRTH OF YOUR BUNDLES OF JOY". The glitter, unsurprisingly, was Joy's idea. Anger's job was to glue the letters to the poster paper. Disgust oversaw the design and made comments whenever she felt that it violated her rules of design. "No," she told Anger, "you've got to space the letters evenly. Fear and Sadness have enough to worry about without wondering what the banner's supposed to say." For once, Anger didn't argue with her - it was better for the both of them

* * *

To ease the both of them into their new roles as parents, Fear and Sadness went to parenting classes on Education Island, lead by a leading parenting expert, Dr Samuel Collins.

On one class, Dr Collins played a sound of a baby crying. "Imagine your baby is crying in the middle of the night. What do you do?"

"AAAAAH!" Fear screamed. "IT'S SICK! SADNESS, RING FOR A DOCTOR!"

"Sir, it's quite alright. It's just sound. Now, try and think rationally."

"RATIONAL?! SOUND OR NOT, THIS BABY NEEDS A DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY!"

Sadness held Fear's hand. "Honey, it's just a simulation."

"Oh! Oh... I see." Fear became quite embarrassed at his mistake.

"Not to worry. Let's try again." The good doctor played back the sound again.

"I think it needs a feeding," Sadness responded.

Dr Collins was impressed. "Yes, that's correct. Now what do you do in this situation?"

"I'll feed it with its bottle," Fear replied.

"You'll need your wife to feed it naturally for a while, and then you can bottle-feed after a few months," Dr Collins explained.

"Well... I guess I was sort of right," Fear said, inwardly criticising himself for not knowing the right procedure.

Sadness squeezed his hand. "It's okay." She smiled and said, "You'll be a great dad."

Fear kissed her, and the class ended.


	8. Delivery (8th Month)

**Author's Note: I would like to apologise for the lack of updates as of late. I have been busy with schoolwork, as well as celebrating my birthday over the weekend. I hope that my readers understand.**

 **Without further ado, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

The eighth month of Sadness's pregnancy began fairly uneventfully. By this point, Fear and Sadness had moved their hospital suitcases into a spot that they could retrieve easily in case Sadness was beginning to show signs of labour. Fortunately, in the first few weeks, there were no emergencies, and for a while it was true to say that it was smooth sailing for a time.

However, on the fifth week, Sadness woke up in the middle of the night and began contractions.  
"Honey," she whispered in a terrified state to Fear.  
Fear mumbled incoherently, still asleep.  
"Darling, I'm… I think the twins are coming."  
Fear suddenly jolted from his sleepy trance and instantly turned to Sadness. "They're-they're coming?"  
Sadness nodded. Then she winced as her contractions continued.  
Fear jumped from his bed and grabbed the suitcases. As gently as he could, he took Sadness's hand and helped her out of their bed. He soothed her as they made their way to a special tube. The normal tube, while efficient transportation, was unsuitable for Sadness because of her contractions. The special tube, therefore, was a two-seater vehicle that relied on Fear inputting the location of the hospital and the vehicle making its way through the network of tubes. Fortunately, it didn't rattle as it went through the tube network, so it was perfect.

Sadness got into the vehicle first, with Fear following close behind. Once inside, Fear quickly entered the hospital name, and the vehicle sped into life. Fear anxiously looked at Sadness, who was still experiencing contractions. She squeezed Fear's hand as tightly as she could. Fear's body was running on adrenaline now, with most of the sleepiness totally removed from his system. He now realised his main purpose was to get Sadness into the hospital and be with her as she delivered their twins. He was, in all honesty, a mess inside. Even though he had gone through all the preparations for this moment, he didn't feel ready to be a father to two emotions. He was terrified. However, in spite of his fear, there was inside him a hope that all would be fine. As the vehicle sped ever closer to the hospital, he listened to his inner hope and, despite himself, smiled.

As soon as the two arrived at the hospital, a nurse appeared from the front entrance and helped Sadness onto a stretcher. "Do you want to be with your wife in the delivery room, sir?" asked the nurse.  
"Nurse, I don't care what happens in that room, I just want to be near my wife," Fear replied adamantly. "There's no way I'd leave her."  
"Okay, sir, right this way," the nurse instructed as she pushed Sadness into a wide room with a bed in the centre. This, of course, was the delivery room. This was where new life would enter the world. This was the turning point of both Fear and Sadness's lives.

Fear found a chair and moved it near to Sadness's bed. She was being hooked up to various medical devices. Her contractions were growing stronger, and she cried in pain.  
Fear held her hand. "Sadness, listen to me, we are going to get through this. No matter what happens, I'm going to stay with you. You're going to be a great mother. You will be a great mother."  
The contractions began again. "Fear…" cried Sadness. She gripped Fear's hand tightly.  
"You're going to be a great mother," Fear kept telling her.

"Ma'am," said a doctor, "it's time to push now."

With every ounce of energy she had, Sadness began to push. It was painful and agonising, but even so, she knew that Fear was near her. She felt comforted, even as labour pains wracked her body.  
As Fear felt her grip on his hand tighten, he began soothing her again, using the same words: "You're going to be a great mother."  
"FEAR!" Sadness screamed. Fear soothed her again.  
"I can see the head of the first one," exclaimed a doctor.  
With all her might and strength, Sadness pushed and pushed. She was going to have these twins, and she was going to hold them soon. That's all that kept her from letting the labour pains overtake her.  
After a few tense hours, the first emotion was born, wrapped up and given to Fear. "Congratulations, it's a girl!"  
Fear was ecstatic. Sadness was, too, even as she pushed her way through the delivery of the second. "Almost there, darling," Fear soothed. "You can do this."  
Sadness, through pants, looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, honey."  
After two more agonising hours, the second emotion was born. "Congratulations! It's a girl!"  
Sadness held both of their newborns, and saw them for the first time. The baby girl was coloured pink, and the baby boy was coloured a light shade of blue.

Husband and wife looked at their beautiful children, and immediately knew what they would be named.  
"I think Love would be a great name for our girl," Sadness said. "I can tell she loves us."  
"Come on, little guy," Fear said to the newborn boy. "It's okay. I think he might be shy. Shyness! We'll name our boy Shyness!"  
They both smiled. Their lives were made brighter now with the addition of two little ones.

Joy, Anger and Disgust were in the hospital waiting room wondering how Fear and Sadness were going. They were actually all nervous for their friends. They had to calm each other down and tell each other they would be fine.  
"As long as Sadness hasn't bled," Disgust cringed.  
"She'll be fine," said Anger, "and even if she has, they'll clean her up, I'm sure of it."  
"Yeah," Joy replied. "I just hope they're okay…"

Another nurse appeared in the waiting room and walked up towards the three emotions. "Are you the friends of Fear and Sadness?"  
"Yes," they all said in unison.  
"Well, Sadness has had her babies. Why don't you see them?"

As it turned out, the emotions were all over the little ones. Each one got to hold them, and all of them were delighted by the newborns.  
And just like that, a family was created, and life at Headquarters would be made more heartwarming than ever.

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	9. Coming Home (Epilogue)

After a few weeks of observations at hospital, Sadness was discharged from hospital. Naturally, the others were delighted, not least because there were two additions to the family to fuss over. Fear and Sadness couldn't believe their luck. Both were delivered safely, with no major complications to speak of. In spending time with the twins, it was easy to see why they were named what they were: Love seemed to hug anyone she was being held by. Shyness was happiest in the arms of his mother, resisting most others' contact with him. They both were lovely children, and when the other emotions came to visit them, they were the star attractions. So, coming home to Headquarters was going to be a big event.

In preparation, Joy, Anger and Disgust cleaned up the place, especially the nursery. They wanted Headquarters to look "practically perfect in every way", as Joy said.  
"I heard that from a movie Riley watched once. I can't place my finger on it, though," she explained.  
"Is it the movie with the lady with a flying umbrella?" asked Anger.  
"Yeah, I think it also had a guy who danced with penguins. Now, what was it called?" Disgust wondered.  
"Well, we'd better finish cleaning," Joy said, while singing: "...just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down..."

* * *

"Honey, are you ready to go home?" Fear queried to his wife. Sadness was putting the twins in a stroller the hospital had provided them with.  
"After I put the twins in the stroller, I should be ready," she replied.  
"Great," Fear said as he zipped up the last of their suitcases. "You know, I'm excited to get back to the others. Especially with Love and Shyness. Do you think they'll be okay coming back in the tube vehicle?"  
"I fed them two minutes ago, dear. I think they'll be fine. They're asleep now, anyway. When they wake up, they'll be in their new cribs."  
Fear nodded. "Of course. They'll be fine."

* * *

Soon, the new family were on their way back to Headquarters. True to Sadness's word, Love and Shyness were fast asleep for the entire journey.  
"The nursery is going to look beautiful," Sadness whispered in Fear's ear.  
"Oh yeah... unless it's not on fire," Fear replied nervously. "Or... eaten by termites... or..."  
"Fear, it'll be okay. I hope."

* * *

"Oh my gosh! They're here, gang! Act casual!" Joy shouted as she heard the vehicle come to a stop. She ran to the vehicle and helped Fear and Sadness with their stroller. "I've missed you guys so much," she confessed to them as she hugged them. "It's been boring without you two. Well, now it's going to be eleventy bazillion times cuter. Right, guys?"  
"Yeah, of course," Disgust and Anger replied together.  
"The nursery's still there, right?" Fear asked. "I've been worried all the work I put into it would be for nothing."  
Joy took Fear's hand. "We checked, and it's fine. We even cleaned and dusted it for you. Nice and clean."

She took Fear and Sadness into the nursery, which indeed looked magnificent. The walls looked as if they had been painted that very morning, and the cribs looked ready to sleep in.  
"You guys did a great job," Sadness said, starting to tear up. "You did all this... for us?"  
"You're our best friends. How could we not?" Joy smiled.  
At that moment, Love woke up and started to cry. Sadness picked her up and rocked her gently whilst moving around the nursery, taking in the painted walls, the cribs and the ceiling. It looked amazing. Sadness choked up and fought back tears herself. She realised in that moment that she had terrific friends.

* * *

So, the twins had come home at last. Fear and Sadness couldn't wait to see them grow up and achieve milestones. It would be sometimes hard, sometimes scary and sometimes sad, but they really felt that they would be able to face challenges, whatever they were.

Their parenting adventure had just begun.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you everyone for reading, favouriting, following and especially reading this story. I am continuously amazed by how many people actually view my series, and how the review count has grown for each story. It's pretty amazing. So, thank you, guys. It fills me with joy writing for you all, as I can't wait to see what you guys say about it.  
**

 **I have a question. I will write a follow-up to this, but what I want to know is:**

 **Do you prefer a fourth installment of the series, or a series of one-shots?**

 **Review what you want in the comments. I'll go with the idea you want the most.**

 **Thank you again, guys, and I'll see you soon.**

 **-JonoGwood**


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